Movie Reviews


MOVIE REVIEW- Bloodthirst: <i>Daybreakers</i> shows the downside of vampirism Published on Jan 7th, 2010 0 comments PUBLICITY PHOTO Now that vampires are the new sex symbols (People was going to name Robert Pattinson the Sexiest Man Alive, but they weren't sure he is alive), the scenes in Daybreakers where they...
MOVIE REVIEW- Effects: Avatar a stunning visual delight Published on Dec 17th, 2009 10 comments PUBLICITY PHOTO My question is, how will Americans react when/if they realize Avatar essentially has them rooting for the Taliban? Unless you've spent 2009 in solitary confinement in an Afghan...
MOVIE REVIEW- Indomitable <i>Invictus: </i>Eastwood and Freeman make it look easy Published on Dec 10th, 2009 2 comments PUBLICITY PHOTO With one of my acting gods, Morgan Freeman, playing one of my political gods, Nelson Mandela, Invictus couldn't help being a spiritual experience for me. Freeman's every line of...
MOVIE REVIEW- Better than <i>Up</i>?: Clooney, Streep make <i>Fox</i> fantastic Published on Nov 26th, 2009 1 comments PUBLICITY PHOTO The characters may be talking animal puppets, but director Wes Anderson has never made a movie more recognizably his own than Fantastic Mr. Fox. Likewise, though his voice may be...
MOVIE REVIEW- 2012 doom: Earthquakes, tsunamis and flares, oh Mayan! Published on Nov 12th, 2009 1 comments PUBLICITY PHOTO There's nothing like a disaster movie to put the "critic" in "hypocritical." We're here to see Art, dammit! Don't you dare entertain us! Independence Day established writer-producer-...
MOVIE REVIEW- Boo-yah: Spooky flicks for spooky day Published on Oct 29th, 2009 0 comments PUBLICITY PHOTO It's Halloween, the one holiday that sells more horror movie tickets than Hallmark cards. It's the season to hear "Boo!"-ing from trick-or-treaters, highway patrolmen, Republicans...
MOVIE REVIEW- Overhyped:<i> </i>Not everyone's wild about <i>Wild Things</i> Published on Oct 22nd, 2009 4 comments PUBLICITY PHOTO It would be easier to jump on the bandwagon and rave about Where the Wild Things Are, but I'll be honest and admit I didn't get it. I've been underwhelmed since the first trailer...
MOVIE REVIEW- Beyond revenge: <i>Law Abiding Citizen</i> a gory allegory Published on Oct 15th, 2009 0 comments PUBLICITY PHOTO "Torture porn" isn't just for horror movies anymore. Law Abiding Citizen is a cross between Death Wish and The Silence of the Lambs. It's a story about guilt that will be a guilty...
MOVIE REVIEW- Identity crisis: <i>One and Only</i> can't decide Published on Oct 8th, 2009 1 comments PUBLICITY PHOTO My One and Only is the story of two teenage boys who know what they want to be when they grow up and their mother, who doesn't. The movie doesn't know what it wants to be either...
MOVIE REVIEW- Mad money: Moore's latest rips capitalism Published on Oct 1st, 2009 4 comments PUBLICITY PHOTO Hey, there's a terrific new movie about entities that rise from the dead to devour the general population and suck their lifeblood! Actually there are two such movies, but in...
MOVIE REVIEW- Critical condition: Movie reviews a dying breed Published on Sep 24th, 2009 0 comments PUBLICITY PHOTO Dear Reader, Not so many years ago young people would come up to me and say, "How can I become a film critic? It seems like a cool job." I would reply, "Well, first you take a vow of...
MOVIE REVIEW- Fact or fiction: <i>Informant!</i> a true story with twists Published on Sep 17th, 2009 0 comments PUBLICITY PHOTO If Silkwood and The Insider had a baby with a sense of humor, he might grow up to be The Informant! If you've ever wondered what a "pathological liar" is, The Informant! offers an...
MOVIE REVIEW- Deep-six <i>Nine</i>: Pain by number Published on Sep 10th, 2009 1 comments PUBLICITY PHOTO This year's 9 (not to be confused with "Nine," District 9, $9.99, or other nonary titles– did the studios all consult the same numerologist last year?– is a fantasy that'...
MOVIE REVIEW- Judge rules: New film <i>Extract</i>s laughs Published on Sep 3rd, 2009 0 comments PUBLICITY PHOTO I've wondered why Mike Judge's Office Space has evolved into one of the biggest cult movies of the ‘90s, just below The Shawshank Redemption and The Big Lebowski. Though a...
MOVIE REVIEW- Groovy movie: <i>Taking Woodstock </i>recalls rock of ages Published on Aug 27th, 2009 0 comments PUBLICITY PHOTO Ang Lee switches gears again with a comedy about Elliot Teichberg (later shortened to Tiber), without whom the Woodstock festival might never have happened. At least that's Elliot's...
MOVIE REVIEW- Glorious <i>Inglourious</i>: Tarantino's latest a sure classic Published on Aug 20th, 2009 0 comments PUBLICITY PHOTO I don't know why but I still get pumped for a new Quentin Tarantino movie. He'll probably never top Pulp Fiction, his Citizen Kane, but I keep hoping the next one will be his Touch...
MOVIE REVIEW- Streep's success: Stick a fork in her... Published on Aug 13th, 2009 2 comments PUBLICITY PHOTO The movies are getting kinkier. On the heels of Humpday (no local booking scheduled), which is about "two straight dudes bonin'," comes Julie & Julia, in which the climax is...
MOVIE REVIEW- Love and laughs: <i>Ugly Truth </i>funny, trite Published on Jul 30th, 2009 0 comments PUBLICITY PHOTO Actress Katherine Heigl (Knocked Up) and director Robert Luketic (Legally Blonde) must have had a positive experience making The Ugly Truth because they've already shot another film...
MOVIE REVIEW- <i>Food </i>for thought: Film shows dark side of the food biz Published on Jul 23rd, 2009 2 comments PUBLICITY PHOTO If you haven't eaten fast food since you saw Super Size Me, you'd better not see Food, Inc., because then you won't eat anything. Talk about a crash diet! Why is E.coli bad and broc....
MOVIE REVIEW-Wild wizards: Newest Potter's not <i>Half </i>bad Published on Jul 16th, 2009 2 comments PUBLICITY PHOTO All the wizards' spells haven't kept me from becoming progressively disenchanted with the Harry Potter films as they've gotten darker, more CG-dependent and, with increasing...
MOVIE REVIEW- Humor misfire: <i>Beth Cooper</i>'s no fun Published on Jul 9th, 2009 1 comments PUBLICITY PHOTO People with Tourette syndrome tend to blurt out things– often obscene things– involuntarily. Well, Tourette is human, but what happens in I Love You, Beth Cooper is...
MOVIE REVIEW- Getting colder: Third <i>Ice Age</i> no match for the first Published on Jul 2nd, 2009 0 comments PUBLICITY PHOTO The foolishness of wasting millions on celebrity voices for animated films (with occasional exceptions like Robin Williams in Aladdin) was demonstrated in the first two Ice Age...
MOVIE REVIEW- Robots return: Second <i>Transformers</i> even bigger Published on Jun 25th, 2009 4 comments PUBLICITY PHOTO Wouldn't it be cool if, with the push of a button, a mild-mannered film critic could be transformed into a huge, fearless, megafreakinawesome creature capable of doing battle...
MOVIE REVIEW- Conned: <i>Brothers Bloom</i> doesn't quite pull it off Published on Jun 18th, 2009 0 comments PUBLICITY PHOTO The more movies you see about con artists (The Sting, The Spanish Gardener, The Grifters, Nine Queens, House of Games, Paper Moon, Confidence, The Flim-Flam Man, Dirty Rotten...
MOVIE REVIEW- Subway sequel: Two big dogs play cat and mouse Published on Jun 11th, 2009 0 comments PUBLICITY PHOTO There was no earthly need to remake The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, except to make the title more text-friendly by substituting digits; but if it had to be done for commercial...
MOVIE REVIEW- Day after: <i>Hangover</i> a feel-bad but funny flick Published on Jun 4th, 2009 0 comments PUBLICITY PHOTO If you've seen any of the films of Todd Phillips (Old School, Road Trip, etc.) you know his favorite topic is men behaving immaturely (or boys behaving infantilely). You also know he...
MOVIE REVIEW- Soar subject: <i>Up</i> is a beauty, not a beast Published on May 28th, 2009 0 comments PUBLICITY PHOTO Cars hinted that Pixar wasn't making toons just for children anymore, with a multigenerational appeal that skewed toward nostalgic older viewers. Ratatouille and WALL•E also...
MOVIE REVIEW- Relish relics: Second <i>Night</i> brings laughs Published on May 21st, 2009 1 comments PUBLICITY PHOTO What do you do when you're barely competent and can't make it anywhere else? You go to Washington. (Sorry, joke left over from the previous administration.) Larry Daley (Ben Stiller...
MOVIE REVIEW- Post-<i>DaVinci </i>delight: <i>Angels & Demons</i> done right Published on May 14th, 2009 0 comments PUBLICITY PHOTO Ron Howard faced an interesting dilemma in approaching his follow-up to The Da Vinci Code: If it's broke but people like it, do you still fix it? Da Vinci was a lousy movie, the...
MOVIE REVIEW- 'Star'ting over: Doing sci-fi right Published on May 7th, 2009 0 comments PUBLICITY PHOTO Not everything old is new again...yet. After the rejuvenation of the James Bond series and now Star Trek: Starting Over (let's ignore the Pink Panthers and Teenage Mutant Ninja...